Availability of cover and centerfold ads

Because the covers (inside front, inside back, and outside) and the centerfold are prime advertising sites, Planetarian has instituted a policy based on sharing if more than one advertiser is interested in one of these prime areas and is willing to sign a four-issue pay-in-advance contract (at the discounted rate) for an ad in that area.

This policy is followed on a four-issue calendar year basis, e.g. the four issues of 2013.

If only one vendor asks for a particular area, no sharing is necessary, and the vendor may have that area upon signing a four-issue contract.

If two vendors want the same area, they will be polled to see if each would accept that place for two of the four issues (and we will try to give each their preference for the issues that they want, either by consultation with the Advertising Coordinator, or by lottery if necessary). If this sharing option is not satisfactory to both of the vendors, then a lottery drawing for a four-issue allocation of that spot will take place.

If three vendors want the same area, we will try, as above, to arrange that each vendor gets one issue and a drawing is held for that place in the fourth issue. If this option is not satisfactory to all three of the vendors, then a drawing for a four-issue allocation of that spot will take place.

If four vendors want the same area, we will try, as above, to arrange that each vendor gets one issue in that spot. If this option is not satisfactory to all four of the vendors, then a drawing for a four-issue allocation of that spot will take place.

If five or more vendors want the same area, we will select four of them by lottery, and then proceed as in the four-vendor case described above.

If a spot is being shared and the year contains an immediate pre-conference issue (e.g., June 2010), a lottery for the pre-conference issue would probably be necessary, because all the vendors would be interested in that issue.

DEADLINES

Requests for a four-issue centerfold or cover placement must be received by the Advertising Coordinator no later than December 1 of the preceding year (i.e. requests for 2013 placements are due by December 1, 2012). Requests must include willingness to sign a four-issue prepaid contract (at the discounted rate; see below for determination) if no other requests are made for that area. If no such requests are received for a given area by the deadline, then that area will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

If only one vendor requests centerfold or a given cover placement by the December 1 deadline, that placement will be sold to the vendor requesting it.

If more than one vendor requests a given placement by the December 1 deadline, it is our intention to sort out placements for the whole year promptly (in consultation with the vendors as needed) so that all cover and centerfold advertisers will know their placements for the coming year and can plan ads accordingly, including those due by January 21 for the March issue.

ORDER OF PRECEDENCE

Centerfold and cover requests will be treated separately.

Since 4-page and 2-page centerfolds are mutually exclusive, only one of them can appear in a given issue. Requests for 4-page centerfolds take precedence over requests for 2-page centerfolds. A 4-page centerfold is defined as a single vendor using all four pages of the center sheet of an issue.

The order of precedence among the covers is outside back cover (highest rank), inside front cover, and inside back cover (lowest rank). If more than one vendor wants a given cover, the arrangements for the highest-rank area will be settled first, then for the second highest area, and last for the lowest-rank area. Cover requests that cannot be accommodated will become full-page placements elsewhere in the issue.

Normally, a vendor with a centerfold ad may not also purchase a cover ad in the same issue, nor may a vendor purchase more than one cover space in the same issue.

RATES

If a vendor has requested and received centerfold or a given cover placement for the year (e.g. outside back cover for all four issues), that vendor will be expected to pay for the year in advance at the four-issue discounted rate.

If a vendor is sharing a space and may be in different places in different issues (e.g. two issues on the inside back cover and two issues as full-page non-cover ads) and is willing to pay for the year in advance, then the four-issue discount rate will apply for each placement and we will invoice accordingly.

For ads paid issue by issue, the full (non-discounted) rate will apply.

CAVEAT

We realize that we cannot anticipate every possible situation, but the description above outlines the procedures we will follow as fairly as possible. Ambiguities will be resolved by the Editor, Advertising Coordinator, and Publications Chair, in consultation with the vendors involved. If necessary, a final decision will be made by the Editor. We expect to try this arrangement for a year or two and then if necessary make adjustments based on experience and feedback from vendors.